Business Partnerships for Development: The Case of the National Beverage Company in the West Bank and Gaza

Abstract

The benefits of expanding and strengthening an economy's private sector are well established. A healthy private sector fosters increased investment, improved productivity, job creation and growth. Creating and sustaining a productive private sector in fragile or conflict-affected areas involves particular challenges and requires concerted leadership and commitment on the part of business leaders, governments and donors. The payoff for addressing these challenges, however, can be significant in terms of expanding economic opportunity, tackling poverty and improving human security, especially where formal private sector enterprises may be few in number and small in size. This report profiles the experience of the National Beverage Company (NBC), the local Coca-Cola bottler in the West Bank and Gaza, where the private sector underperforms relative to many of its regional neighbors, and is consequently underutilized as a driver of economic growth, job creation and social development. The challenges to private sector development in the West Bank and Gaza stem from a variety of well-known sources and include political instability, restriction on movement of goods and people, lack of access to capital, and shortages of water and other natural resources, with the situation obviously particularly difficult in Gaza.